Israel donates fitness park to Buenos Aires City

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — Israel donated an outdoor fitness park to the Buenos Aires City government in a ceremony at Palermo Park, the main green space in the Argentinian capital.

Buenos Aires Minister of Public Spaces and Environment Diego Santilli accepted the park in a ceremony Monday at Israel Square, located inside Palermo Park. Israeli Ambassador Daniel Gazit, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael President Adolfo Filarent and other Jewish community leaders were in attendance. Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael donated the sports equipment to Buenos Aires.

The Israeli Embassy in Argentina canceled this year’s traditional Yom Ha’atzmaut dinner in order to use the money to install the facility.

Santilli at the ceremony said that “we have a full and strong integration between Israel and the city of Buenos Aires. This park is a celebration of the independence of the State of Israel, which is very important for everyone in the world." He also spoke of the inauguration last week of Shoah Square, also in Palermo Park, where a monument to Holocaust victims is scheduled to be built in the coming months.